Russian missile misfire: Oreshnik explodes on home turf
According to David Axe, an American journalist and war correspondent associated with Forbes, the Russians reportedly launched a second Oreshnik ballistic missile toward Ukraine. However, the missile did not reach its target and exploded while still within Russian territory.
Russia attempted once again to use the new Oreshnik ballistic missile, which was intended to strike Kyiv. As reported by Forbes, however, the missile exploded within Russian territory.
The Russians launched the Oreshnik. It did not reach its target
The first Oreshnik attack occurred on November 21, when the missile hit the Dnieper, destroying it and injuring many people. David Axe reports that on Thursday morning, February 6, the Russians relaunched the Oreshnik, this time targeting Kyiv. Residents of the city heard sirens and took shelter in safe places. However, as Ukrainian war correspondent Kirill Sazonov confirmed, the missile did not reach its target.
The Oreshnik, a modification of the RS-26, has a shorter range due to its limited fuel capacity. The first RS-26 test in 2011 failed when the prototype exploded near the launch site in Plesetsk.
Experts cited by Forbes, including Jeffrey Lewis from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, emphasize that Oreshnik is a weapon of terror, meant more to intimidate than destroy. After the first attack, Putin organized a propaganda campaign to highlight the alleged power of the new gun.
The inefficiency of the Oreshnik undermines its value as a tool of intimidation. So far, half of the launched missiles have not reached their targets, reducing their capacity to instill fear.
Russian Oreshnik
Recently, Ukrainians revealed that in the fragments of Oreshnik remains (from the November attack), they found parts with numbers suggesting that the missile had components manufactured as far back as April 2017. This information may cast doubt on Russian assurances about the modernity of this technology.
Detailed technical data on the Oreshnik missiles is still lacking. Assuming this technology is based on the RS-26 system, the initial launch mass of the missile could be between 88,000 and 110,000 lbs. These missiles can cover distances up to 3,700 miles. Standard equipment most likely includes four warheads, each with a yield of about 0.3 megatons.
